C

Symposium 2 “Globalized Popular Culture and Intercultural Studies”

ore presentation
Manga as an Engine of
Global J-POP Culture,with Comments on its Future
Lecture by Frederik L. Schodt**Translator, Writer and Manga “Evangelist”
Reported by Ippei WAKABAYASHI, Chair JSICSIn March of 2010, I visited the Tokyo International

the seemingly paradoxical fact that while anime andAnime Fair at the giant facilities of the Tokyo Big Sight

manga fans may be increasing in the United States, busi-

exhibition halls. It seemed to be a huge success, withness revenues are declining. In other words, Cool Japanover 130,000 people jammed into multiple halls over a

may be a popular idea, but it is not likely to create thefour day period, crowding booths of anime production

giant revenue stream that many people in Japan once

studios and merchandise companies. Given that this is

hoped would off-set the declines in traditional manufac-

primarily an industry-oriented event, with only two days

turing industries. More broadly, there is strong evidence

for general fans, the attendance figures seemed to un-

to suggest that the recent boom in Japanese culture may

derscore the success of “Cool Japan”―of commercial-have peaked, at least in North America.

ized Japanese popular culture―not only in Japan, butaround the world.

How did manga and anime come to be so accepted?
Japanese manga are based on the basic “grammar” of

Yet there were subtle signs of some big changes. In a

American comic books (sequential panels with word bal-corner of one giant hall, on the wall of a relatively un-

loons that tell a story), and Japanese anime is also based

noticed booth, I saw charts illustrating an odd trend inon techniques pioneered in the United States. But starting

Japanese anime in the United States. One graph showedin the 1950s for manga, and the ‘60s for Japanese anima-

attendance by fans at anime conventions around thetion, the Japanese variant of these quintessentially Amer-

United States increasing during a nearly ten year period

ican art forms began to develop quite independently. Withup until 2007. Another showed declining revenues fromartists like Osamu Tezuka and others, the long-arc, quin-anime in the same region, in the same period. Together,tessentially Japanese “story manga” became the norm.

they reinforced what I had suspected for some time―

And when manga styles were increasingly absorbed into

52

Frederik L. Schodt

TV animation in Japan, both manga and anime developed

for free. In 1978, I visited members of the Cartoon Fan-a synergistic relationship, so that publishing and broad-tasy Organization in Los Angeles―one of the first

casting industries jointly prospered and came to depend

groups of American fans of Japanese anime―withupon each other. These new Japanese styles allowed a

Osamu Tezuka (photo 1). It was a tiny gathering of peo-richer development of both stories and characters, and re-ple, many of whom were still watching anime on sixteen

sulted in sophisticated stories that increasingly appealed

millimeter film. In 1980, Tezuka accompanied other

adults as well as children.

Japanese artists such as Monkey Punch, Yumiko
Igarashi, and Go Nagai, to the San Diego Comics Con-

When young Americans encountered these new Japan-

vention. Tezuka had name recognition because of theese styles in the 1980s, many of them were understand-

Astro Boy series of the 1960s, but American anime andably fascinated. And what began as a tiny cadre ofmanga fans attending the convention were few in num-

dedicated fans therefore quickly began to grow. Withber. I think it is also fair to say that the Japanese artists

very little help from Japanese rights-holders, these fanswere pleasantly surprised to see that there were any fansbegan to proselytize the merits of Japanese manga andof manga and anime at all.

anime to others around them, to in effect advertise them
One of the most striking things about early Americanfans of manga and anime was their dedication. Often
they were intelligent, nerdy misfits―the sort who would
become known later in Japan as “otaku.” They werewilling to travel vast distances to meet other fans at conventions and to exchange information, and they welcomed the chance to convert others to their cause and toshare information. I attended one of the first anime conventions in America, called “AnimeCon ‘91,” in San
Jose, California, in 1991, and was amazed to see nearly
2,000 fans there. Some had come all the way from
France, England, and Australia. Two French Canadiansdrove nearly three thousand miles from Montreal.
By around 2000, Japanese anime and manga had started
to become truly mainstream in American society.
Hugely popular works such as Pokemon and Dragon
Ball Z, in manga and anime format, had captured thehearts of younger fans. The Sailor Moon anime series
had been broadcast on television (including on the popular Cartoon Network), and published in translation by
Photo 1: Tezuka (left) and I

an American publisher manga publisher. Its popularity

53

Manga as an Driving Force of Globalizing J-POP popularity and its Future

had helped expand the community of fans beyond youngments between 2008 and 2010 from the largest manga

males, to females. And all fans were being exposed to

publishers in America, of huge layoffs and reductions in

an increasingly broad array of works from Japan, in boththeir publishing lines. Tokyopop slashed its workforce

manga and anime formats.

by over 30%, and Viz Media cut 40% of its staff. Salesof anime DVDs, moreover, had already been in a slide

The media in Japan were quick to take note of the grow-for several years. And during that same period numerous

ing appeal of Japanese popular culture in North Amer-

companies that had specialized in either manga or anime

ica. Japanese anime and manga had long been popular

had gone out of business or cancelled titles, and thein Europe and Southeast Asia, but to succeed in the landamount of anime being broadcast on TV had dropped

where both comics and animation had originally come

precipitously.

from was understandably big news, and it understandably evoked feelings of national pride, in addition to sur-Reflecting on the problems, here are some possible an-prise. Douglas McGray’s article on “Japan’s Gross

swers, in no particular order.

National Cool” in the May/June, 2002, issue of Foreign
Policy magazine, in which he asserted that Japan was

The manga and the anime markets in the United States

inventing a new type of “soft power” with its success incannot be viewed in isolation. They are deeply affectedexporting its popular culture, seemed to give an Ameri-by the state of the industry in Japan, and in recent years

can imprimatur to these feelings.

Japan’s domestic industry has suffered from declining
sales, and complaints about a lack of hit works and over-But then came the recession of 2008 and 2009. Whatcommercialism. And there are also many complaints in

had seemed to be a steady and steep growth vector inJapan that young people’s focus has shifted to otherthe manga and anime business in the United States un-

forms of entertainment, such as cel phones, games, andderwent a rapid change in trajectory. According to an

the Web. It is na?ve to think that American fans would

April 18, 2010 post on the website, ICV2, which tracks

not be affected by these same trends.

pop culture and comics industry trends in North America, manga sales in the U.S. and Canada suffered

There was a bubble in the market. As with every boom,

through “a second straight year of double digit declines

there is usually a bust. And having started from such ain 2009.” Sales fell 20% from an estimated $175 million

low point (essentially zero until around the 1986 forin 2008 to $140 million in 2009. And this followed amanga), in North America the manga and anime markets

17% decline from manga’s peak in 2007 when sales

for years grew exponentially in sales and revenues. Thatreached $210 million. In all, this means that sales ofthey hit a wall should surprise no one, but it is humanmanga in North America experienced a jaw-dropping

nature to expect a good thing to continue forever. It’s

decrease of between 30 and 40% from 2007 to 2009.1

also probably fair to say that a lot of the publicity about“Cool Japan”―in both North America and in Japan―

This same report came on top of previous announce-1

resulted from an initial astonishment. Older Americans“A Second Bad Year for Manga,” ICV2. Com, 16 April 2010. http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/17292.html (As of 30 August 2010).

54

Frederik L. Schodt

have tended to view American popular culture―whether

example, requires shelling out over $180.00 dollars.

music or movies or animation or comics―as something

Translated into yen, this may not seem like much forwith infinite universal appeal around the globe; the idea

Japanese readers, but for a young person in today’sthat a foreign popular culture, and especially the popular

America it is a huge sum. And the same thing is true forculture from a place as different as Japan, could haveanime DVDs.

any appeal among youth, came as a big surprise. Conversely, in Japan many older people have also been

As more industry people in Japan learned of the seeming

amazed because they thought of America as the source“success” of manga and anime in the United States, theirof both comics and animation（アニメやマンガの本

expectations for revenues outpaced reality, and for国）and also because they assumed the same thing as

American publishers and localizers the cost of acquiring

older Americans―that what seemed to be rather in-properties became higher and higher. Statistics for ac-

grown Japanese popular culture was essentially not ex-

quisition costs are generally tightly held, but I frequently

portable. In other words, on both sides of the Pacific,

hear such complaints from representatives of U.S. -expectations for the success of manga and anime in thebased companies. For smaller U.S. companies publish-

American market were so low to begin that it didn’t takeing manga, moreover, the titles available for localizationmuch success to amaze anyone. This amazement also

have over the years become more limited, partly because

helped distort the reality that―even at their peak―inlarger Japanese manga publishers can effectively control

America both manga and anime have never been more

the licensing of their most popular and profitable anime-

than niche industries, with nothing approaching the scale

linked manga. Shogakukan and Shueisha manga titles,

they enjoy in Japan.

such as Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, or One Piece
are now almost always published in North America by

The economic recession, which probably began at theViz Media, their San Francisco-based subsidiary. Ko-

end of 2007, clearly has had a major impact. With an un-

dansha used to license many of the popular titles it con-employment rate hovering between 9.4 and 10 percent

trolled, such as Sailor Moon, to Tokyopop, one of thein 2008 and 2009, Americans were forced to cut backlargest and most pioneering North American mangaon discretionary spending. And expenditures on enter-publishers, but in 2009 it decided to publish mainly

tainment like manga and anime are fairly easy to forgo,

under its own imprint in America. The same move de-especially when other essential payments, such as rent

prived Dark Horse Comics of Ghost in the Shell, which

and food, cannot be reduced. Among young people, who

had long been one of its better-selling titles.

are the largest consumers of manga and anime, this isparticularly true, and in North America, unlike Japan,

In North America, feature films can greatly help drive theneither manga nor anime DVDs have ever been partic-

popularity of comics-related properties. In recent years,

ularly cheap. Licensing costs are high, and so are thethere have been several attempts by Hollywood studios

costs of localization―of translation, editing, printing,to capitalize on the anime/manga boom. But despite great

publishing, subtitling or dubbing, and marketing. For a

expectations, these anime/manga based films have largely

fan to acquire all eighteen volumes of Naoki Urasawa’s

been failures. Speed Racer, Dragon Ball, and Astro Boy

popular Monster mystery/thriller manga at list price, forwere all high-profile flops that have unfortunately made55

Manga as an Driving Force of Globalizing J-POP popularity and its Future

American studios increasingly leery of touching Japanesemanga began, most publishers felt that American audi-

properties, and―along with a reduction of anime pro-ences would not accept anything other than a standard

grams on television―on their own probably contributed

American comic book format. What were originally pa-

to a cooling of the “Cool Japan” fever.

perback volumes in Japan were therefore broken up into
short, American comic book, or magazine-style, lengths

I may be in a minority in my opinion, but I believe thatof thirty or forty pages. Pages were also flopped, creating

the manga market in North America has also suffereda mirror image of the original Japanese, so that stories

from confusion among the public about what “manga”

could be read from left-to-right, just as English readers

really are. In Japan, “manga” and “anime” are genericnormally expect. Lettering of speech inside word bal-terms for what Americans loosely call comics (or car-loons (and sound effects outside) was hand-done by pro-toons) and animation. In North America, however, both

fessional American comic book letterers. And in the“manga” and “anime” have until recently referred to

beginning, some stories (such as Otomo Katsuhiro’s

comics and animation from Japan. But what are Japan-

wildly popular Akira, issued under the Epic Comics im-

ese comics and animation? True fans can extol the mer-print of Marvel Comics in 1988) were even colorized, justits of both for hours, and discuss how they prefer the

like mainstream American superhero comic books.

Japanese-style story-lines and characters over American-style works. They can also explain how they like theAround 2000, as the market for manga grew, this trend

Japanese visual style. But to many Americans manga

began to reverse. Instead of trying to make Japaneseand anime are still defined only by a visual style; by big

manga look more and more like American comic books,

eyes, big bosoms, very young-looking female charac-

there was more pressure to keep them in a more Japan-

ters, and a cute-quality not native to America. And thisese format. This pressure came from three distinct

visual style is easily imitated, with the result that in mysources, and created an ultimately irresistible force inneighborhood comics shop there are, in addition to

the industry. First, artists in Japan, many of whom had

shelves of translated Japanese manga, sections of trans-

become rich and powerful, were increasingly able to dic-

lated Chinese manhua, and Korean mahnwa, both oftate terms to publishers, and they did not want their art

which are referred to by most people simply as “manga.”

work to be flopped. They often had legitimate reasons.

Making matters even more complicated, there are also

When a manga about baseball is flopped, for example,

now what are called OEL manga, or “Original English

first base suddenly turns into third base, throwing theLanguage” manga, created by English native-speakers

entire story into confusion. And flopping pages makes

in a Japanese style. Anime has not yet become so con-kimono folds reversed and samurai swordsmen suddenly

fusingly diversified, but with the efforts that both China

all left-handed. But often artists’ fears were exaggerated,

and Korea are currently putting into their own, domestic

because most Americans live in a world where kimono-industries, it soon will be.

folding or left-handedness is not at all an issue, and theyusually never notice such things. Second, for North

Another source of confusion in the manga market in

American publishers of manga, eliminating the flopping

North America revolves around publishing style. In theof pages (and the tailoring of speech balloons andlate 1980s, when commercial publishing of translated

sound-effects for American readers), helped reduce56Frederik L. Schodt

costs, which were already high because of acquisition

wards.” Nor are they ever going to accept the idea thatrights and translation. Third, as anime and manga be-characters in a story should be addressed with Japanesecame more and more popular in North America, morehonorifics. Even more confusing, as mentioned before,

and more hard core fans, or otaku, wanted to read manga

not all manga are presented in the Japanese right-to-leftin as original a format as possible (without, of course,

format. Moreover, the increasingly popular Korean mah-having to learn Japanese). When Tokyopop, in 2002,

nwa are always published in left-to-right format because

began issuing un-flopped manga and labeling them “Au-

Korean, like English, is a left-to-right language.

thentic Manga,” such fans were overjoyed. To the joy
and surprise of the industry, there was a market for low-

As manga and anime have become more mainstream, it

cost manga that required little tailoring for American au-

should not be surprising that they also have faced morediences, beyond the simple act of translation.

criticism in America. In the early days, criticism was

The result, however, has been confusion in the market-

or immature, but there was little scrutiny given to whatplace today. With a few notable exceptions, such as thewas actually being read or viewed. Today, both manga

more literary works of Osamu Tezuka and artists, mostand anime are far more visible in society. The former

often leveled at fans, who were regarded as a tad weird,

popular manga published in North America today are noare now sold at not only comic specialty shops, but inlonger flopped. On the contrary, publishers increasingly

major bookstore chains, and on the internet, and they arecater to the ultra-otaku, and make as little alteration toincreasingly available in public libraries. Anime works,

the original manga as possible. Pages are not flopped,

similarly, are widely available in DVD at rental shops,

sound effects are not translated, and the English used inpublic libraries, and Internet stores, and they can betranslation has started to become a bastardized English,

downloaded legally or illegally from the internet. Even

which retains as many of the original Japanese terms as

if someone does not like manga or anime, they usuallypossible. Japanese honorifics, such as “onii-san,” orat least know someone else who does.

“tono-sama” are left in the original. And this last trend
has also infected the translation process of anime, as

One result is that complaints about both manga andwell. When Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo animation was re-anime have developed a more serious edge. On Marchleased in North America in 2009, the school teacher was

24 of 2010, a state representative in New Hampshire in-referred to as “sensei,” even in the English dialog.

flamed the American manga and anime fan community
by stating on his Facebook account that, “anime is a

The problem with this trend is that it alienates people

prime example of why two nukes just wasn’t

who have little knowledge of Japan or manga andenough….” He may have written his comment as a typeanime. Average Americans―who have to be targeted ifof black humor, not intending it to be widely read, but

manga and comics are ever going to become the mass-

the reaction was strong enough that he soon issued amedia they are in Japan―will never read manga “back-public apology and denied that it was his true opinion.2

2“New Hampshire Legislator Apologizes for Anime Comment,” Anime News Network, 27 March, 2010.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-27/new-hampshire-legislator-apologizes-for-anime-comment (as of 30 August 2010)57

Manga as an Driving Force of Globalizing J-POP popularity and its Future

In July of the same year, a Florida woman, who founded

age. Among the challenges for Japanese anime are stiff

an organization called “Protect Our Children,” also gen-competition from Korea and China and the Unitederated negative publicity when she complained to theStates, and digital downloads. Manga faces the same

local city council that her son had “lost his mind” after

challenges, but also an entirely new, and different one.

reading some more mature manga borrowed from a local
public library, and that he was in “home for extensive

Manga, and comics in general, are an art form that has

therapy.” It seemed laughable, but she had earlier circu-

until now been developed entirely on paper. Even more

lated a petition with 226 signatures protesting the avail-than ordinary books, comic book layouts and designs

ability of manga in the library and asking for theirare dependent on the concept of pages, and pages are abanning.3

result of using paper. As comics and manga transition
to a digital format, and are increasingly read on e-read-

The Internet and the World Wide Web are agnostic tech-ers such as the iPad or Kindle, there will be no reason

nologies that transmit any information that can be digi-

to retain the original paper-based format. Artists will

tized, and as such they can be a force for both good andcompete to add music, and movement, and may eventu-

evil, at the same time. And therein lies another problem

ally create something of a hybrid between animation andfor manga and anime that manifested first outside ofcomics. In other words, manga and comics as we know

Japan, in countries such as the United States and China,

them may soon transform into something entirely dif-where the World Wide Web is more heavily used byferent, and entirely new.

highly computer-savvy manga and anime fans. The
same technologies which have helped create “CoolIn conclusion, I would like to reassure you that I’m not

Japan” are also helping to undermine it, by facilitating

going to finish with an end-of-the-world scenario. I do

not only a diffusion of questionable material, but also

believe in Japanese pop culture. I believe that throughdigital piracy.

the power of pop culture, something new will surely
arise. It may come from the world of magazines, or from

The manga and anime industries are particularly suscep-somewhere else. In either case, it will be a third wave

tible to the same forces of change that have affectedof Japanese popular culture, following the Japonisme ofother contents industries. Japan’s manga and anime busi-

the 19th century, and the manga/anime boom of the latenesses have also been very conservative in its adoption

20th century.

of new technologies and business models, and shelteredby the size of Japan’s domestic market, so I anticipate

Osamu Tezuka wrote the foreword to my first manga

they will also face extra large challenges in adapting tobook in 1983, and in re-reading it, I think he had amaz-

the new digital world. Major disruptions are likely to

ing foresight. Manga may be the engine of Japanesecontinue to occur in the current distribution and produc-

popular culture today, and the wellspring of creativity

tion system until new strategies are developed for a newfrom which anime springs. But Tezuka said, first, that

3

“Crestview mom targets manga; calls it ‘shocking’”, Crestview News Bulletin, 2 July 2010,
http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/crestview-10478-genre-raised.html (As of 30 August 2010)58

Frederik L. Schodt

something new, which will amaze the world again. Thisis your chance. We are counting on you.
In conclusion, if anyone is interested, I have a website(www.jai2.com) and I’m also on Twitter as well, at@fschodt , so feel to take a look. Also, I also have astrong personal connection with Okinawa, and manyfond memories of the island. As a result, I was not only
delighted to receive the invitation to speak here by the
Photo 2: I am the third person from the left on the back row.

Japan Society for Intercultural Studies, but also overjoyed to be able to see the Okinawa again. ManyJapanese anime have opened the door for manga over-decades ago, I had a summer job here, doing construc-seas, where printed materials have in the past failed.

tion work on the Naha Bypass (photo 2). I don’t know

Anime, rich in international potential because of its vi-

if the highway is still used very much, or even if it still

sual nature, has been a true goodwill ambassador, mak-exists, but I have heard that after heavy rains the watering friends for Japan around the world, and opening thesometimes failed to drain properly from the road sur-doors for manga. And this has been the case, not only inface. If true, I apologize, because I may have had some-America and other Western nations, but the Middle East

thing to do with it.

and Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and even
China. But Tezuka also wrote that manga culture and theThank you for listening.

circumstances of manga culture will change with thetimes. I think that is exactly what is happening.

Note:
The lecture was performed in Japanese. This rendition

So I shall not end on a pessimistic note. I believe inof the talk primarily based on the original English text

Japan and its people. I have hope in the younger gener-

contributed to Hitotsubashi Business Review 2010 win-

ation. So to all the younger members in the audience, I

ter, vol. 58 no. 3.

hope you will go out there and do your best to create59